Another week has passed. What have we learned? Friday is better than Monday, that's what we have learned - are you kidding?
- Update: Toronto in 1977 and 2007. Just click on "next day" for the next comparison. 1977 was waaay cooler.
- The Totalitarian Olympics (and, really, when weren't they) may be bad for your health. Who could have guessed it?
- Speaking of fascists, this 1939 article in Time reported from Spain is instructive as to demands of the law of prudence. But, frank(o)ly, I do wish more men would wear swimming shirts. But not necessarily brown ones. Remember: "Beware of the cocktail! Beware of the one-piece bathing suit! Beware of the cigaret!"
- Errr...given the track records for this model of vehicle, I'd be telling NASA staff to come up and tell the astronauts the news face to face.
- Uncle Joe shall save us all!
The initial euphoria around the bacteriophage as a means of combating what had been incurable conditions subsided and the virus was all but forgotten. But not in Stalin's Soviet Union, where a research programme was pioneered in his homeland of Georgia...Once the phage has entered the body, it attaches itself to the bacteria causing the infection, and shoots in its own DNA to make the bacteria start producing bacteriophages. Within 30 minutes, up to 200 new phage are created, according to Dr Dixon, and in the process the bacteria die. The job done, the phage automatically start to disappear. And if the bacteria become resistant to the phage, as they have done to antibiotics, a new phage matched to the new bacteria can be developed. In order to inhibit resistance, a cocktail of phages would most likely be used in treatment.
How about that. - Just for the record, So You Think You Can Dance is the only reality-contest show worth watching. It seems to be much harder to fake dance compared to the more general entertainment. And it appears most of the top contestants get to use the show to make a real career. And I think I have learned somethings about professional dance. You can see I am still hedging my bets for the bit "it was all done with mirrors" scandal of 2009.
- An interesting article this week by one of Canada's best spoken conservatives, Peter Lougheed, on the impending clash between Canada's Federal environmental law and Alberta's desire to pile pennies from the windfall (transfered for free from the Feds) of oil and gas:
Mr. Lougheed predicted that the dispute will very likely go before the Supreme Court as a constitutional reference, forcing the Court to decide whether the British North America Act gives the province the right to develop its energy resources as it sees fits. "My surmise is that we're into this constitutional legal conflict soon," he said. "And my surmise is that – and this is strong stuff – national unity will be threatened if the court upholds federal environmental legislation and it causes major damage to the Alberta oil sands and our economy."
Not much of a nation if the desire for localized wealth hoarding puts it at risk. And what does it say of a community that its business members have such control that their voice is the only voice in a dispute on division of powers - a corporatist province? Loughheed makes the point, too, that the development of the tar sands is haphazard. So is he asking whether anyone in charge? - Like everyone, I am not following the legal case between YouGoogTube and a whack of companies who do not like their content stolen but this call to the new order is bracing:
YouTube says it needs depositions from more than 30 people to fight legal challenges that "threaten to silence communications by hundreds of millions of people across the globe who exchange information, news and entertainment" through its website.
That is like the pawn shops association saying that charges against their members for dealing in stolen goods is a threat against the masses of people who exchange interesting items through their shops. Pap. Pappimissima. King Pap of the Papalonians. Fortunately, GoogYouTube has subpoenaed John Stewart and Stephen Colbert to clear the whole thing up. That'll help. No chance of unexpected points of view not helping mega-industry there.
Comments
gr - August 17, 2007 8:47 AM
woo hoo!!!!!!!!!! firsties!
gr - August 17, 2007 8:49 AM
Let me use that empty bullet point to add that I dreamt of Alan last night. Until the cats started larking about at 3:15 am and the beagle yelped at them to shut up.
cm - August 17, 2007 9:05 AM
'Beware of the cocktail'? Depends. Is gin and tonic considered a cocktail?
Gorthos - August 17, 2007 9:52 AM
Being the freakazoid that I am who has in the past spent a few years as an amateur researcher into infectious diseases (I positively love ebola by the way), I have always wondered why the heck we stuck with anti-biotic medicines when bacteriophages were far superior in many ways.. then I remembered the bad old days of propaganda where anything that the godless ruskies did different than we happy smiling westerners, must be wrong.
gr - August 17, 2007 9:56 AM
Looks like the anti-Gorthos comment device needs a little fine-tuning Alan.
Alan - August 17, 2007 10:02 AM
I obviously have not adjusted it properly for latitude.
gary - August 17, 2007 10:42 AM
The winter olympics emphasis on figure skating and the like makes a person avoid the whole darn thing. And the US team always wears dorky red, white and blue outfits with ugly cowboy hats. I liked the good vs. evil scenarios of the 60s and 70s, where large and ugly East Germans and Soviets vied against truth, justice, and the American way.
cm - August 17, 2007 12:09 PM
I get sucked into the Olympics every time. Go Djibouti!
Jay Currie - August 17, 2007 2:15 PM
Bacteriophages, will, I suspect, make a comeback as more and more infectious diseases begin to achieve complete antibiotic resistance and the skills of guys and gals in white jackets increase. Of course this will not be a welcome development for big pharma as there is no obvious way to commercialize what amount to tailor made treatments.
The feds attempt to regulate CO2 will go nowhere in most of the nation. It is gradually dawning on people that a)CO2 is a tiny part of the GW story, b) even if Canada reduced its emissions to nearly zero the Chinese project of a new coal fired generating plant built every 10 days ensures our sacrifice would vanish, c)the economic costs of radically reducing CO2 emissions (aka 20-30% contraction in the Canadian economy) dwarf any benefits which might accrue, d)the science has gone from predicting catastrophes of Biblical proportions to a couple of degree temp rise over a century and a foot sea level rise in worst case. (Algore has not, apparently, bothered to read IPCC 4 but a lot of other people have.)
While there are lots of polls indicating that "the environment" is the number one political issue in Canada there are none that I am aware of which have asked the question, "are you prepared to take a 30% cut in your standard of living to make essentially no difference to a problem which may not actually exist?"
The fond hope of the earnest and the green is that they will be able to off load the actual pain of CO2 cuts to the mega oil companies mucking about in the Northern Alberta goo thereby ensuring that there will be no economic pain for the environmentally hysterical middle class in vote rich Ontario. This will not happen. Or, if it does, Alberta will get to work reducing the federal presence.
Alan - August 17, 2007 2:26 PM
Wow - wicked tangent taking, Jay. How is your whiplash after that one?
Alan - August 17, 2007 2:27 PM
Oh, hey - I get you now - not so much tangent as leap. But CO2 is not the prime issue with tar sands, though, is it? Enlighten me.
Jay Currie - August 17, 2007 3:09 PM
The tarsands are one of the biggest emitters of GH gases including CO2 in Canada. Amusingly, John Baird notes that Alberta ...well I'll let him say it.
"Earlier this week, Peter Lougheed, who led Alberta through the squabbles about repatriating Canada's Constitution and the controversial National Energy Program that was designed to give the federal government more control over his province's oil resources, said new disputes over federal environmental standards would provoke a clash "10 times greater than in the past."
But Baird suggested Alberta is already moving in the same direction as his own government, in contrast to other provinces that are asking others to take action while resisting tougher standards for their own industries.
"The ironic part is that every province is talking about wanting to do a lot on greenhouse gases, (but) Alberta is the only province that's regulating big polluters," Baird said. "I'm always very cautious when everyone says: 'Yeah, we think we've got to take a lot of tough measures to reduce greenhouse gases, but get other people to do it.' There are a few provincial premiers who are somewhat like that." ( national post)
Alan - August 17, 2007 3:27 PM
But they have regulated them with that shell game that allows for overall pollution to increase, right? Taking John Naird's word on anything is always to risky.
Gorthos - August 17, 2007 4:40 PM
I'm still put off on the olympics. Big rich countries vie for the citizenship of excellent athletes who live in poorer nations that have crummy sports programs. To them, our athletes are rich beyond measure. So they came here, we hire them with a pittance of funding and call them Canadians, and the win us gold. Sounds like mercenary amateur sports to me.
And to stay on track, I have yet to see one good reason why China won the olympics.. ugh. pollution, corruption, poverty being swept under the rug.. amazing.
David - August 18, 2007 9:41 AM
As Al says, it's the fascist games. What could be more natural than giving it to China?
Gorthos - August 18, 2007 10:27 AM
Yeah David, you are probably right. The US has already had it twice in the past 20 years.. ;)
David - August 18, 2007 2:51 PM
Don't get me going...
ry - August 19, 2007 4:07 AM
Gawd damnit. Check Big Papi's bat for cork. And get the umpires of the last couple of days back to ump school to teach them how to call balls and strikes. Youkilis should've been suspended! Fix! Fix! Hometown umpire! What the hell happened to the Angels bullpen? Total meltdown. THis sux. Fix! The RS Nation doctored the balls in the late innings! Fix! Oi, it sux to be back at Ma's, not more than 10 minutes away from Angel Stadium, and watch the old childhood team lose----to the Red Sox(we shall get even for 1986!).
Oh, and so I won't get e-lynched: having now looked at the Muslim doesn't want to to transport guide dogs thing over at the Toronto Sun(I think it was that paper) I think they got that one right. SHow a real bit of real religious dogma and you get a pass so long as some alternative exists(if it's the *only* rental hall in town it is a wee bit different). Same should have been for the KofC, where Catecism is real clear on the issue.
I don't think it's too much to ask that Law work somewhat like a math function. SImilar inputs should give similar, but still unique, outputs. That it apparently does not, that it seems rather arbitrary, is rather disconcerting.
cm - August 19, 2007 9:53 AM
ry is back and all's right with the world.
Alan - August 19, 2007 10:56 AM
All that is merely an off-set of the boogie curse that came along with Gagne.
gary - August 19, 2007 12:11 PM
Lemme tell you something, ry, the Bears are gonna whup some Colt a$$ this year. Phhhlllbbbbtttt!
ry - August 19, 2007 4:29 PM
Being on the road, living with insane people, surrounded by people who should be listed as mentally disturbed, I needed to find and hang out with some sane and sensible people. I settled for GX40. ;)
gary - August 19, 2007 6:48 PM
Like I said, ry my friend, ppphhhllllbbbbtttt!